Compressed reed for weaving, &amp;c.



No. 768,855. PATENTED AUG. 30, 1904.

- G. E. HOYLE.

COMPRESSED REED FOR WEAVING, 8m.

APPLICATION FILED MATH. 1903. SPEOIMENS.

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UNITED STATES Patented. August 30, 19b4,.

PATENT, rrica.

GEORGE E. HOYLE, OF LEOMINSTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ALBERT L. CROWELL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AND RAYMOND S. CASE, OF UNIONVILLE, CONNECTICUT.

COMPRESSED REED FOR WEAVING, &c.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 768,855, dated A g 30, 1904.

Application filed May 29, 1903. Serial No. 159,274. (No model.)

To (all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. HOYLE, aciti- Zen of the United States, and a residentof Leominster, in the county of orcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Compressed Reeds for 'caving and Braiding, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to compressed reeds formed from a fibrous material and adapted to be used in weaving, plaiting, or braiding,

- to take the place of wooden reeds heretofore used in the several arts of manufacture.

This application forms the original application from which was divided an application, Serial No. 189,278, filed January 16, 1904:.

The object of the invention is to produce as an article of manufacture the compressed reed from a fibrous material, which when formed into shape for use will have all of the strength of the ordinary wooden reeds in common use and the advantage of a much more resilient material.

A further object is to form reeds by compressing a fibrous material, which reed may be formed in indefinite lengths in contradistinction to the comparatively short lengths of wooden reeds.

A still further object of the invention is to produce reeds of compressed form, which may be of rectangular, square, halfround,or round cross-section without disturbing or distorting the lay of the fibres of the material.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates the flat reeds woven or plaited together, both the warp and woof being formed of material of the same cross-section. Fig. 2 illustrates flat and round or half-round reeds woven together, the warp being composed of reeds of one cross-section, while the woof or filling consists of reeds of a different cross-section. Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a piece of a compressed reed of rectangular crosssection. Fig. 4 illustrates, in perspective, a piece of reed of oval or semicircular crosssection. Fig. 5 illustrates a short piece of compressed reed of round form. Fig. 6 illustrates the side elevation of a roll of the compressed reed. Fig. 7 is an edge View of the same.

Heretofore in the numerous arts and manufactures it has been customary to weave,plait, or braid strips of ratan to form chair-bottoms, baby-earriages, baskets, and many other articles; and it is the object of the present invention to produce a material in compressed form to take the place, in many instances, of the ratan, and such a material as will embody all the advantages of pliability of ratan and which may be made in lengths as desired.

In the use of ratan it is diflicult to secure extremely long. strips, and it is thus necessary to form many overlaps and joints in the weaving of any structure. Furthermore, where machines are used for weaving or braiding much unnecessary time is consumed in forming the joints between the several comparatively short strips of ratan. In the use of the compressed strips herein described any desired length may be secured for instance, several hundred feet in a single pieceand this may be fed continuously through a weaving or braiding machine and produces a finished structure of the woven material practically free from joints and breaks and one which will take any desired finish as readily as would the ratan ordinarily used heretofore.

There are particular advantages in using the compressed strips formed of a fibrous material, as in bending it there is little or no tendency for it to crack out and when woven into a structure provides a structure which will resist greater shocks and strains than will the ratan, which is more or less brittle, particularly when used in flat strips. Inasmuch as the compressed strips are formed of fibrous material and the lay of the fibers is not warped or twisted when subjected tocompression, the material is extremely strong, yet pliable, and will take a very high degree of finish, inasmuch as the finishing materials permeate the fibrous material and take a firm hold thereon.

The compressed strips are formed from a fibrous material which may be composed of any desired material which will form a plastic pulp that may be subjected to heavy pressures and compressed into a homogeneous mass. The compressed reeds are, as stated, formed from a fibrous material which is first reduced to a plastic or pulp-like form and then formed into comparatively thin films to a predetermined or any desired length, partiall y compressed, and then laid together with other similar lilms and thoroughly compressed, condensed, or hardened into a-homogeneous material. The resultant structure is a reed formed of laminae of material so hardened and congealed as to produce an exceptionally strong and tough reed which will be flexible and give, yet have great tensile strength. its fiber is not distorted after it is once laid to form the composite structure, nor is it warped or twisted. It is of course immaterial how the laminae of fibrous material are hardened and congealed into a homogeneous material, though of course the preferred method is by tl 3 application of pressure. It is to be understood that the fiber in its plastic or pulp form is laid as, for instance, by gravitation or precipitation-and as the moisture is withdrawn the fibers assume a natural position with relation to each other, which is not thereafter disturbed by warping or twisting the material to form the finished reed. In fact, the productmightbe called a compressed reed in counter-distinction to the ordinary wooden reed or to strips of material formed by twisting or rolling paper and like material. In the latter case, of course, the fiber of the material itself is twisted and warped. Of course it is understood that it is imn'iaterial whether the strips when finished are of the form shown in Fig. 3 or of some different cross-section, as in either case they are formed in continuous lengths and of such lengths as desired.

In the use of ratan, which is an expensive material, there is a great amount of waste owing to the fixed lengths of such material, while in the improved compressed strips herein shown and described there is absolutely no waste, inasmuch as the strips may be run into the machine or may be woven or braided by hand and. cut off without wasting any of the material. Furthermore, in the treatment of ratan for purposes of manufacture of braided and woven goods the bleaching and other processes to which the ratan must be submitted to secure the desired eflects impoverishes the strength of the material and often makes it extremely brittle, thus adding greatly to the expense of manufacture, while with the improved compressed strip the action of the bleaches and finishing materials would not have the same harmful effects if used. However, it is not necessary to bleach the compressed strips, as they may be formed of any desired color and are ready for use without further treatment when used in the machine or hand weaving or braiding operation. A still further benefit in the use of the compressed strips resides in the fact that they are uniform, while the ratan strips vary often with each different piece of ratan, and no uniformity of strength can be secured wit-h ratan such as results from the use of the compressed strips.

The terms librous pulp material and plastic or pulp-like material have been used throughout the specification and appear in the claims. These terms, as well as the term compressed reed, are used to define as far as practicable the structure of the reeds and to differentiate the invention herein set forth from such materials as are produced by twisting and compressing strips of fibrous material, such as paper.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. As an article of manufacture, a compressed reed formed from a fibrous pulp material.

2. As an article of manufacture, a compressed reed formed from a fibrous, plastic material.

3. As an article of manufacture, a compressed reed formed from a fibrous material reduced to a homogeneous, hard, resilient body, with the fibers in natural position.

4. As an article of manufacture, a com pressed reed formed from a fibrous material, said material condensed and hardened into a reed with the fiber untwisted and non-distorted.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a compressed reed formed from laniinze of fibrous material reduced and hardened into a reed without distorting the natural lay of the fiber.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a C011]- pressed reed formed from alibrous pulp matcrial into a hardened reed of rectangular cross-section.

GEORGE E. HOYLE.

Witnesses:

WM. H. BA'RKLE, E. P. (JorrmN. 

